I'm Totally Not Attracted to My Best Mate
by Diddle-chan
Summary: There are a few things Albus Potter knows about Scorpius Malfoy. That he is pretty and he smells nice. Really nice. Albus is just too content with believing it's all in his head. Because he is most decidedly NOT attracted to his best mate.  DISCONTINUED
1. Enamoured

**Diddle: Hey everyone, I'm really sorry about what you had tried to read. I haven't uploaded in a while and didn't know about the double spacing format that the site has now (I do paragraph and very well at that). The reviews also didn't go to my email and if they had I would've checked sooner. I apologise, but thank you for not saying 'this sucked ass learn to write' and other things like it's better now, do give it another shot. And please review, I love hearing what people think about my writing.**

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><p>Malfoy had been minding his own business quietly re-shelving the books in the library as requested, sighing heavily as the next volume of some Herbology related nonsense floated up to it's place on the shelf. Scorpius liked the library when he was in a good mood, all you could ever hear was the slight scratching of quills on parchment the flipping of pages and the quiet curse word or groan from the odd student having difficulties with their essays. He was turning his back to the isle to pick up a stack of books left by another student. It really bothered him how people couldn't seem to clean up after themselves. As he bent down to the bench top, his shirt rose up around his hips and then something-or rather someone-was clasping cold, very cold fingers around the protruding bones.<p>

"Cold hands!"

Scorpius arched up and gave a very undignified squeak at the freezing touch and the suddenly very loud voice ringing in the isle, dropping his stack of books unceremoniously to the floor. He turned sharply long blonde hair whipping over his shoulder as he did so.

"Albus!" he levelled the taller boy with a glare. Grey eyes piercing green as he pouted. The messy black head of hair bowed with chortles of laughter.

"Interesting noise that one, Scorp." the Slytherin blushed at the name, an action very noticeable on his pale skin.

"Don't call me that." Albus simply grinned at his friend's empty threat. He'd done it a million times and loved the reaction Scorpius Malfoy gave him every time he used his little pet name for the teen. He hoisted himself onto the wooden bench like table that ran the length of the book shelves in every isle and levitated some of the fallen books back up next to him. Scorpius muttered his thanks as he bent down to retrieve the others, Potter admiring the view unabashedly.

"Say, Al? Shouldn't you be in class?" the blonde inquired glancing over his shoulder after gathering the books back up again and moving down the shelf, his friend sliding from the counter top to follow him. Albus pulled a face.

"Arithmancy is boring, Scorp. Besides, why would I want to be there when I could be in here with you?" Scorpius shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

"You're a twat, Albus." the black haired teen faked a hurt look then smiled wickedly throwing his arm around his companion and touching every possible appropriate part of the Slytherin he could."Aw, you don't mean that." Scorpius was about to make a sarcastic remark about personal space when something caught his eye. Something very annoying. The blue and white tie around his friends neck was crooked. Again.

"You're tie is crooked." Albus grinned, moving away so they were face to face. Only inches apart.

"Hm, so it is. Fix it?" very well aware of how close they actually were, Scorpius did it anyway. He loosened the tie, then snaked his arms around Albus's neck, gathering the material at the back and pulling it even. He looped it through and tightened the knot. A difficult process with hot breath on his neck. he looked up, almost colliding with the Ravenclaw's face as he did so. Scorpius's breath hitched at the look in those green eyes. Girl's practically through themselves at his friend's feet to get even a second glance from these eyes and here they were, looking straight through him. He swallowed thickly. Very tempted to close the inches of air between their lips, but he pulled back finally releasing the tie from his grip.

_Bugger, _Scorpius thought as Albus did his annoyingly attractive habit of biting his lip, _why does doing such mundane things like that for him turn me on so much?_

"Wanker."

Albus just smirked."All right, I'm leaving. Just remember that it's not my fault you're OCD." On his way out, he lightly brushed Scorpius's shoulder, it was only after he had gone and the blonde looked back over the shelves that he realised exactly what Albus had done. All the books he had previously replaced were all moved one space over. They weren't in alphabetical order anymore. Clucking his tongue and shaking his head in irritation, Scorpius set about reordering them. He would just have to lecture Al later.

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><p>"A cheese grater." Scorpius snapped his head towards his friend at the obscene comment. They were in the middle of Potions, a class Al was actually <em>good<em> at and he still insisted on saying random, pointless things to distract Scorpius from their current task.

"What?" Albus smirked at him, dropping the next ingredient into their cauldron and stirring.

"It grates cheese, Scorp."

"Don't call me that. And I know what it does, I just want to know what it has to _do_ with Amortentia." the blonde shot him a look before cutting the next item listed with precision.

"Nothing really. I was just thinking of lunch and then cheese and then I forgot what the name of that particular thing was." the black haired teen absentmindedly looked to the roof whilst reciting this though process. Scorpius shook his head and glanced down at the potion, it was an odd purple colour. It wasn't supposed to be purple. He panicked a little. It also wasn't supposed to bubble like that.

"Um, Al..?" the Slytherin couldn't help the slightly worried edge to his voice as he tugged on his friend's sleeve lightly to get his attention. Albus leaned over, pressing his chest over Scorpius's back to peer into the cauldron. The blonde blushed lightly at the contact.

"Oh, wow. What did you do?"

Scorpius pouted, he'd always found the way Albus didn't sound angry or really worried when he did small mistakes like this kind of endearing, but also kind of annoying. He looked up and saw that Slughorn was approaching their table, albeit rather slowly.

"I was just stirring. Hm, I'm sure I counted right..." the blonde worried his lower lip as Albus chuckled, the vibration going through Scorpius as well from where they touched.

"If you stir twice the opposite way to the last time you stirred, and then once the way you're supposed to stir it, you should fix it." the Ravenclaw also had a habit of giving instructions nobody could understand.

"Um..what?" Scorpius looked at him and immediately regretted it. The soft smile and the amused light in those green eyes did horrible things to his heart beat. The blonde was especially concerned when he practically stopped breathing, after answering Albus's quiet question of 'what did you last stir?' with 'clock wise', as the black haired teen wrapped his hand around his own and moved the mixing spoon in the exact directions he'd given earlier. Scorpius watched fascinated as the love potion swirled and turned the milky shade of pink that it was supposed to be.

Saying he was suddenly cold and disappointed when Albus moved back to stand beside him would be the understatement of the year.

"See?" Albus grinned at him, his already messy black locks sticking up at other odd angles making him look ten times more attractive then he already was. Scorpius huffed, muttering something about him being 'an utter pillock' and still blushing, placed the lid on their cauldron to let the potion brew. Slughorn stood at the front of the class and called for attention.

"Now, students. Place the lids on your cauldrons and we will see who has successfully managed to brew their Amortentia in your next class after lunch. Also to issue you some homework, you have to write a two page essay on the effects of love. Dismissed!" He called out to the class who gave a few groans and began to pack up. Scorpius shuffled the things in his bag to make room for his potions text and waited for Al to finish.

On the way out Albus grumbled, his arm across Scorpius's shoulders."What the bloody hell do the effects of love have to do with potions?"

The blonde laughed, reaching up and ruffling the mess of soft black locks."About as much as cheese graters, I expect." Albus blushed, frowned and looked away mouthing off about Scorpius being a smart ass. The two fourteen year olds entered the Great Hall amongst the mass of students and quickly made their way over to the Slytherin table. Scorpius gracefully slid onto the wooden bench while across from him Albus practically threw himself into his seat.

"You are the worst Ravenclaw ever." his companion smiled wickedly at him, reaching for the bowl of strawberries. Scorpius quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Vwaht?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

Albus swallowed his bite thickly. "Ahem, what?"

"It's nothing, just.. What do they taste like?"

Albus gaped at the blonde. He couldn't believe it, Scorpius had never eaten strawberries."They're good, try it." before the boy could protest, the black haired teen had used his fork and placed the half eaten fruit in his friends mouth. He almost retracted his hand immediately at the sudden impulse, but became rigid and frozen as he watched the lithe boy's pink lips close over the fruit and drag it off the utensil with his teeth. It maybe also had something to do with the low moan of pleasure Scorpius made at the back of his throat as he ate, but Albus chose to ignore this fact.

"It's delicious." Scorpius licked his lips. Albus cleared his throat, blushing and staring at the plate of fried chicken as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Are you taking anyone to Hogsmeade?"

The blonde blinked at him."Al, I don't have a girlfriend, you know that. We do everything together."

"Yeah, I know. I thought maybe there was someone you wanted to ask? What about that Hufflepuff girl?"

"You mean Lucidia Wallflower?" the Slytherin pulled a face as the girl in question popped into his head. If there was someone who was most definitely not attractive, it was Wallflower. Scorpius couldn't stand her, with her pointed chin that would practically stab you if you got within five feet of her and her fat lips that reminded Scorpius a lot of the plate of sausages to his left. Not to mention her mop of brunette hair always looked greasy and like shagpile.

Scorpius didn't like brunettes. Or shagpile.

Albus was giving him a reproachful look. The blonde figured he must've had an expression akin to murder on his face. A little embarrassed, he blushed, shifting under the gaze and looked at the table, tapping his manicured fingers on it, muttering something about the girl's breasts being too big. And that she was a _Hufflepuff_.

Thankfully his friend dropped the subject.

"So, what about you Al? Are you taking anyone?"

The Ravenclaw leaned forward on his hands and huffed."No, I don't have a girlfriend. Can't say there's any girls I'm particularly attracted to either."

"You could always pick through your brothers leftovers." the blonde scoffed.

Albus turned to look at the Griffyndor table only to notice his brother, James, being a twat as usual. It was common knowledge that James Potter had slept with practically every single girl in Griffyndor, Ravenclaw and Huffepuff. Vaguley, Albus wondered why he hadn't touched anyone in Slytherin, but one look at his friend told him the answer to that.

Most of the_ boys_ in Slytherin were ten times prettier than the girls.

"Look, Scorp-"

"Don't call me that." the blonde interjected, but Albus continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"-I know James is a twat, but he's still my brother. I'm obligated to defend him."

Scorpius pouted fiddling with the end of his ponytail, absently curling the blonde hair around his index finger. Albus forced his eyes away.

"Even when you know that the git practically pushes the girl down the stairs and feeds her to Theastrals when he's finished effectively knocking her up."

"Was that a question? Besides you're exaggerating Scorpius."

The blonde crossed his arms and huffed. Albus swallowed, trying to stop his brain from thinking it was adorable. "_And _he hexes me in hallways."

"He does?" the black haired teen gaped.

"Yes."

"What an arse. No, you are not going to turn me against my brother. We're a happy family." though the black haired teen said it with no air of hostility at all. Scorpius smirked.

"No, actually you have Middle Child Syndrome."

The taller boy chuckled at that."Yes and you have Only Child Syndrome."

Scorpius stuck out his tongue."Brilliant, why don't I just kick you inbetween the legs and we'll call it even?" Scorpius quirked an eyebrow at him. Grey eyes dancing with amusement.

"No, I need that.." Albus whimpered mockingly.

"What for? I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend."

"Saving it for you, perhaps." Albus smiled wickedly. Scorpius turned almost the same colour as the strawberries and stammered wildly, all witty remarks lost at the comment. "Relax, Scorp. I'm only teasing." _I wonder how he'd react if I were being serious? Ah, Scorp you're so much fun to tease. _He added that in his head afterwards.

"Honestly, you're obnoxious. I'm surprised you weren't sorted into Griffyndor." Malfoy frowned at his friend.

"I thought Griffyndor's were supposed to be brave not obnoxious?" The taller boy asked airily and smiled.

"It's the same thing really." Scorpius glared at him.

"Okay, go to Hogsmeade with me?" Albus inquired, intent on disregarding their playful banter. The blonde blushed and shifted his gaze to the table.

"Fine. Whatever. Prat." Annoyingly, the Ravenclaw grinned.

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><p>After lunch and Albus complaining that he'd eaten too much and Scorpius content in acknowledging that strawberries were now his favourite fruit, the two teens found themselves back in the dank Potions classroom that now smelled more of smoke than it had before they'd left. Albus loved Potions, really. But sometimes the room, always dark (even for being in the dungeons) with it's pillars bordering the rows of wooden desks and the cluster of glass vials and bottles strewn about, made him twitchy and slightly claustrophobic. He was rather clumsy, or at least his elbows were.<p>

Now he stood next to Scorpius, their cauldron of Amortentia sat merrily on the table in front of them and when Albus turned to look at the blonde his breath hitched. Scorpius was doing his nervous habit of brushing his hair back behind his ear, curling the strands at the end of his loose, low ponytail that hung over his shoulder around his finger and just generally looking _gorgeous_. The black haired teen quickly pushed these thoughts away and tried to think instead of what his friend was so worried about.

It took him only a few moments of tuning in on Slughorn's prattling at the front of the room to realise what it was. In order to evaluate their performance in Potion making, Slughorn would soon be having them open their cauldrons to smell the brewed Amortentia within.

_Oh, _Albus thought distractedly with another glance over to his friend. _But Scorp said he didn't really like any girls at the moment, so why is he so worried about what the potion is going to smell like. I mean if you're not attracted to anyone it shouldn't smell like anything, right? _After his internal battle he worried his lip and noticed Scorpius smiling at him nervously, he returned what he'd hoped was a reassuring smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace.

Then Slughorn clapped his hands.

"Okay, you two lovely girls down the back there. Please open your cauldron." Two rows down and two to the left of him and Scorpius, the two Hufflepuff girls lifted the lid off of the item in question very carefully and it let out a horrible smelling gush of black and green smoke that filled the entire room. Several student's hands' flew to their noses and others made gagging noises and pressed their faces into their robes. Al cringed and held his breath. His friend blinked rapidly a few times, rose the back of a delicate hand to his nose and held his breath until the smoke dissipated. The smell still lingered somewhat.

"That's quite a good try girls. Eh, five points to Hufflepuff. Now can someone tell me why that smelt rather off?" the black haired teen looked around nervously, but raised his hand none the less. "Yes, mister Potter?"

Al cleared his throat."Amortentia releases a scent that produces a reaction to the chemical in your brain that causes you to feel attraction to someone else. If brewed correctly, the potion can have a very strong scent of things that will smell good or that of which the person is attracted too." here, Slughorn nodded, encouraging Albus to continue. "If brewed incorrectly however, the potion can smell either vaguely of what the person likes or what repulses them."

Scorpius smirked and flicked his hair back over his shoulder as he turned to look at Albus. "Fascinating. I didn't know potions could smell like gingers." Albus snickered lightly into his hand as the rest of the class scoffed amusedly. Well, most of them. Rose Weasely glared at the back of Scorpius's head as Al shot her an apologetic look. The professor cleared his throat.

"Very good mister Potter. Then would you and mister Malfoy open your cauldron please?" Albus nodded reluctantly, but Scorpius had lifted the lid gently and cautiously before Al could react any further. A cloud of purple and pink smoke rose into the air and the two students behind them sighed blissfully. Next to him, Albus felt his friend tense, obviously trying not to breathe in. He then noticed that they'd had the same idea, as he too, was holding his breath. The tiny whiff that travelled through his nostrils smelled like cherry blossoms and made a pleasant feeling pool at the pit of his stomach.

"Mister Malfoy, since your partner answered my earlier question would you mind telling us what you can smell?" Albus glanced down at the blonde who let out a shaky breath and nodded reluctantly. He watched intently as Scorpius leaned over the potion and drew back quickly, looking the Potions professor straight in the knew that Scorpius was stubborn and they both knew that they'd done this potion right, so Scorpius was definitely determined to prove it.

"It smells like, musk and spices, and rain." Scorpius struggled a little to keep his mind from reeling at the scent of the potion it was so overwhelming and felt like it was pulling him in. He swallowed thickly when Slughorn asked him with contempt in his voice if 'that was all?' and his mind flicked back to the lunch table, Albus's arm around his shoulders as they walked there and then the _strawberry_. The potion smelt like bloody strawberries. He glanced at the taller boy who was watching him worriedly, also slightly irritated at Slughorn's tone towards him. He flushed and looked at the desk. "And strawberries."

"Ah, yes. Very good." The professor then waddled over to their table and proceeded to check out their potion, muttering things about the colour, thickness and smell. Albus watched his friend carefully, the flicker of pleasure that crossed his face for a split second before he glared at the cauldron as if it had insulted him and abruptly-and none too gently-slammed the lid back over it. Albus could've sworn he'd heard a few hushed groans from behind him. After giving them each a vial of the potions they'd brewed and ranting about the details of the essay some more, the class had finally ended.

Albus was walking back up the large stone staircase that lead away from the dungeons, his arm across Scorpius's shoulders as it always was, both of them glaring offensively at their potions.

"Honestly. What use do I have for this? I suppose I could smash it over the back of your brother's head." the blonde muttered darkly. Albus laughed at him.

"Really, what's so wrong with James that you have to constantly threaten his life?"

His companion shot him a disbelieving look."Come on, Al, what's not wrong with him? I mean he's completely daft, I really can't believe you two are related."

"Thanks, I think."

Scorpius just nudged him with his elbow, stuffing the potion into his bag and the two teenagers continued walking through the massively crowded halls and stone stairways that would take them to the main entrance where they would spilt up. Albus would go down the back way to the locker rooms for his Quidditch practice and Scorpius would go out the large double door into the courtyard and then down to the greenhouse for the sixth-year Herbology class he took. The two would occasionally lean into each other for brief moments then lean away subconsciously and think that it was simply because the crowds were difficult to move through without being squashed together.

When they finally reached the slightly more clear entry way, Albus moved off of his friend and stood in front of him. Somehow their comfortable silence had turned awkward and Albus dumbly stood staring at Scorpius for a few minutes not really sure what to say.

"Um, I'll see you at dinner?" the blonde glanced at him hopefully and Albus grinned at him.

"Yeah, try not to kill my brother in Herbology. He's kind of important."

Scorpius laughed for the first time in a full hour, the light reaching his slender grey eyes, practically making them sparkle. It was then that Al hesitated a little. He badly wanted to hug Scorpius and the Slytherin was looking quite awkward too. Moving closer to his dark haired friend slightly, but shifting nervously away as if some invisible persona inside his head had said '_No wait, I'm not supposed to do that_.' Albus settled on brushing the boy's shoulder lightly and saying 'See ya later' to which the blonde blushed and nodded.

Albus watched his friend go in a swish of green and black robes, feeling awkward, tense, happy, relieved and slightly regretful all at the same time.


	2. Weeds

**Diddle: The reason I waited so long to update was because I wanted to wait for some more feedback reviews to come in, but that didn't happen. Thank you to everyone who reviewed so far. I desperately hope this story is funny, I am trying so hard. I unfortunately suck at British humour, that comes with not being British I suppose.**

**I just have one last thing to say, if don't get some really good feedback on this update or any more reviews at all for that matter, I'm just going to delete the story. I mean what's the point if no one is going to read it, right?**

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><p>Scorpius sat languidly against the headboard of his bed as he sifted through his Herbology text warily. He wasn't really reading it, only a few bits and pieces of random sentences which didn't make much sense. Herbology had been torture, as expected Professor Longbottom had paired him with James, who scoffed and stared as Scorpius tied his hair in a high ponytail <em>'because the plant bites'. <em>Scorpius was positive that his Herbology professor had it out for him and James had been a twat all lesson by poking him, messing up the spells and throwing notes to Fred Weasley all class. The blonde growled into his book and scowled at the pages.

"Whoa, Scorp. I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry. Calm down." Scorpius's head snapped up at his friends voice. He looked up at Albus, soaked from the rain and slightly red in his defined features from the cold. His black hair was messy and clung to his face pronouncing those green eyes ever more. His already tight, blue Quidditch uniform clung even more and Scorpius could smell the mix of the rain and spice that never seemed to wash off of him. Albus grinned at the blonde.

Scorpius cleared his throat and tore his eyes from the taller teen. "Sorry, I was just thinking about your brother."

"Yeah, he has that effect on people. Hey can I use your shower, Scorp? The locker room was bloody crowded.." Al smirked and gestured lightly to the bathroom.

"Knock yourself out." Scorpius smiled burying himself back in his book as Albus dumped his bag by the bed and pulled out his change of clothes. The black haired teen leaned in over the top of the book his friend was holding and smiled.

"What are you reading?"

"A book." Scorpius shoved him gently away.

"I can see that smart arse. I meant what kind of book."

"Karma-sutra." The blonde smirked. Albus gave him a look, throwing his clothes ungracefully into the bathroom.

"What did I just say about being a smart arse?"

"It might as well be! It's for Herbology and it's about the nature and reproduction of magical plants." Scorpius sat up proudly lifting his head as his friend began to slink into the bathroom.

"So, basically it's tree porn." His voice echoed off the tiles amusement very evident in his tone. Scorpius laughed and rolled his eyes. he ditched a pillow at his friend who blocked it with the door and threw a wet Quidditch robe at him in response. Albus shut the door and in a few seconds the blonde could hear the rushing water and a call of 'be out in a few minutes' and sat rigidly, absorbing the scent of the garment on his head before wrenching it off, glaring at it and then neatly folding it.

Albus literally had to peel the clothes off of himself, he was freezing and very grateful as he stepped under the hot spray of the shower and proceeded to count the tiles. He roughly scrubbed at his hair. It was full of dirt and there was a nasty bruise on his left shoulder where he'd been squared by a bludger. He tentatively brushed his fingers over the sore spot, but winced and pulled them away, he'd do something about it later if it got worse. The black haired teen bent down to pick up the shampoo he'd brought with him when he saw it.

On the same low shelf was body wash and two bottles of Cherry Blossom scented, UV protection nutrient shampoo and conditioner. Albus swallowed thickly. This was why Scorpius always smelt so good. He flicked open the bottle and sniffed. It was divine, but not exactly like his friend, it was missing the other elements. he shook his head and placed the bottle back down, then finished washing quickly.

Albus emerged out of the bathroom, a fluffy white towel on his head and concentrating on the buttons of his white school shirt intensely. He only made a small sound of acknowledgement when the blonde greeted him.

"The elves came and took your wet clothes, they also left food for you. Since you skipped out on dinner." Scorpius narrowed his grey eyes at the taller boy, who just noticed the form fitting, dark red turtle-neck and very tight black jeans that adorned his friend. Who now had his hair down and was toying with a quill.

Scorpius looked _good_ in red.

"Oh great." Albus had that feeling again, but swallowed the lump easily and growled at the shirt. He'd done up all the buttons, but by getting distracted they were uneven and the two bottom ones were undone. "Bugger. I hate it when that happens." he huffed and dropped himself onto the bed. Beside him Scorpius giggled and set down the parchment and quill he was holding, before he slid off the bed and the few short steps to his friend.

"Here." And then Albus froze in his action of running his hand through his hair. He gaped down at Scorpius as his thoughts reeled _'Don't think about it, don't think about. Don't look Al!' Bloody hell' _because the Slytherin had knelt between his legs and was unbuttoning the shirt, pulling the fabric straight and even-the very opposite of his black haired friend's thoughts-and then proceeding to do it up again.

"So, how was practice?" Scorpius glanced up with a small, sly smile. Albus could feel the blush on his cheeks, but desperately ignored everything his brain and body were screaming at him.

"It was alright. I got nicked by a bludger and Miller was just making out with his girlfriend the whole time."

"Are you okay?" the blonde's hair fell over his face and his eyebrows knitted together in worry. Albus licked his lips.

"Yeah. The rain wasn't much help. Bloody snitch was invisible." Much to his relief, Scorpius had finished, even leaving the top two buttons undone as Al usually did himself and sat back on the bed pulling his homework towards him. He flicked his hair back over his shoulder and passed the silver tray of food over to his friend. Al thanked him with a nod.

Scorpius didn't have much interest in Quidditch, but he did know a bit about it and enjoyed watching it. Flying didn't seem to be his thing though. Albus smiled at him. The conversation and the worry, even though none of it should really mean anything to Scorpius he still asked and it was for Al's benefit. The blonde looked up and caught him smiling, he tilted his head.

"What?" he reached out and brushed the tip of his quill feather against Albus's nose, who battered it away with a chuckle.

"Nothing."

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><p>Scorpius rushed into the Divination room the next morning with a cluster of thick tomes and rolled up parchments. He dumped them ungracefully on the desk receiving quizzical looks from Albus and Rose Weasley. Professor Trelawney hadn't shown up yet and for that Scorpius was grateful. He pulled out his wand and muttered a shrinking charm on the items before shoving them into his bag and then laying his hands in front of him as if nothing unusual had happened.<p>

"Nice timing, Scorp." Albus grinned at him.

The blonde hit his friend playfully on the shoulder and a small smile flicked the corners of his mouth as Professor Trelawney stumbled into the room. The class fell silent as their wayward professor almost mirrored Malfoy's earlier actions, an arm full of large tomes and parchments falling messily onto her desk. She huffed and then moved forward to address the class.

After the short rundown of the lesson the students calmly set to work, but there was definitely more chatter than anything else. The table Scorpius and Albus sat at was in the front right corner of the room, they were joined by Al's cousin, Rose Weasley, and scratching away at their parchments. Albus flicked his eyes up about fifteen minutes into the lesson and noticed Rose staring into space and chewing on her quill. It was a bad habit she had, biting inanimate objects that stayed idle in her hands for too long. The black haired teen smirked at his blonde friend who kept straightening out the magenta table cloth whenever it slipped, he seemed to be getting quite irritated at it as it was messing up his neat cursive script. Al watched quietly as Scorpius's hand began to move toward the cloth again, his slender, pale fingers about to steady it when Albus suddenly shot his own hand over his friend's, smacking it to the table.

"Is there something you wanted?" Scorpius huffed at him and pouted.

Albus grinned. "Nope."

"Hey, Al? Do you think I should ask someone to Hogsmede?" Rose questioned placing her quill down on the desk. Scorpius made a face at the end of the feather that had been matted together with saliva and reflexively pulled his not trapped hand away under the low table. Albus shrugged at his ginger cousin.

"Did you have someone in mind, Rosie?"

"Well, not really... Who are you taking? Oh wait, that's a silly question. You'd be going with Malfoy of course." She giggled a little and Albus then drew himself up with a deep breath, before suddenly leaning in close to her face and narrowing his eyes suspiciously . He thought Rose sounded sly about what she'd just said, but he couldn't quite place if he was right or not. She blinked rapidly at him, slightly taken aback by the sudden movement as he pulled away. "Um, what?"

"Hrm. Nothing." the dark haired teen seemed deep in thought for the moment, so Rose turned to Malfoy.

"Do you think it's a good idea, or should I just go with my friends?" She inquired lightly with a small smile. Scorpius retracted from her.

"Why are you asking me? I haven't the foggiest idea about such trivial romantic notions. Honestly."

"You could've fooled me." Weasley smirked at the blonde who just gave her a pointed look.

"Can we please change the topic." Scorpius huffed, making his fringe fly up. He swept it back to the side annoyed as Rose giggled again.

"WINDSOR!" Albus all but yelled at the top of his lungs, causing the Ravenclaw students who sat at the desk behind them to jump.

"_What?_" his two companions stared at him, completely aghast.

"Axel Windsor? You know, tall, brown spiky hair... Captain and Chaser of the Slytherin quidditch team. Sixth year." Albus elaborated for the both of them, using a number of wild hand gestures to get his point across. Scorpius turned away briefly with his hand poised from where he had been leaning on it and a quizzical look on his face. Al heard him mutter something along the lines of '_How do you even know that?' _as Rose stuttered and stammered, blushing madly at him from across the small, round table.

"Al-Albus! I don't even. I mean... Yes, he's good looking, but I'm fourteen. He'd never say yes." Rose clenched and unclenched her fists nervously. It was so obvious.

"You never know until you try." the black haired teen shrugged.

"I'm afraid even if you did try Weasley, it wouldn't end well. His girlfriend would castrate you." Scorpius said uninterestedly, delicately placing his chin in his palm.

The ginger's eyebrow shot up in puzzlement. "I'm a girl, Malfoy."

Scorpius and Albus gave each other a side long look before replying, very seriously. "All the more reason to be afraid."

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><p>Scorpius Malfoy's left eye twitched in annoyance as a piece of scrunched up parchment hit the back of his head for the third time. He tapped his wand twice on the desk in an irritated gesture before leaning over to pick up the note. He unrolled the parchment, staring down uninterestedly at a very bad animated stick figure drawing with a high ponytail being eaten by a giant plant of some description. An arrow was drawn to the figure with the word 'Malfoy' scrawled in messy handwriting. The blonde rolled his eyes and smirked as he flipped the parchment over and quickly wrote down 'Don't quit your day job, Potter. This drawing is positively awful.' He sent it off with a flick of his wand and watched for a bit as the note flew its path amongst the chaos of students and plants.<p>

Scorpius knew exactly what James Sirius Potter was trying to do. He was flinging childish notes about, partly to irritate him while he was trying to concentrate, mostly to get him in trouble with Professor Longbottom. Granting him a night of detention down in the greenhouse. It wasn't really going to Potter's plan though. The first note had been quite good, the blonde would admit that (something about _fairies and getting a hair cut). _The second note not quite so much, by that point in class Scorpius had shed his Slytherin robe and the parchment said _hips like a pear, _to which Scorpius' response had been an eyebrow quirk and wondering why James had even been looking long enough to make a comment about it.

Needless to say he'd burnt that one.

The fourteen year old quickly turned his attention back to his plant as he saw the Professor walk close enough to his table to notice if he wasn't doing anything. He annunciated the spell from the book to his right and watched as a little globe-like spot began to hover above the end of his wand and the tip became warm with a red glow. Scorpius found a small gap between the plant's roots and gently slid the tip of his wand into the soil. As he was waiting for the soil around his Harpy Fern to heat up, another note flittered gracefully onto his desk. He glared at it.

_'I'd rather be a bad artist than a friendless fag whose own house mates hate him.'- Potter._

Scorpius went to pick up the note slowly, to destroy it or scrunch it up or anything. He felt wetness at the corners of his eyes, but pushed the feeling away. Unfortunately, just as his fingers had poised on the note Professor Longbottom had come up behind him clearing his throat rather loudly. Scorpius pulled his hand away from the note and winced as the whole class fell silent.

"Mister Malfoy, are you passing notes? It might interest you to know that your plant has over heated. Five points from Slytherin and a detention. Please stay after class." The dark haired teacher leaned over and took the note reading it and destroying it before he sighed and continued his journey to the front of the class. He turned to face the students. "And James, detention with Malfoy."

James gaped at the professor. "What!"

"You heard me." He said to James before turning back to the class. "Now then class. I'd like to explain to you exactly what you've been doing today so you understand. Harpy Ferns are female plants that don't have a male counter part or any male reproductive systems. They cannot spore by themselves. The spell you have used today was created specifically to sexually stimulate the plants." He paused here, giving the students time to make their disgusted faces and immature jokes. "In order for them to grow new sprouts, they need to be combined in soil with regular muggle ferns. This is, however, not the only way in which they can do this. Any male DNA that comes into contact with them will probably make them spore too, it hasn't been completely proved, but it has happened before." Professor Longbottom smiled happily at his students from the resounding 'Ew gross' and told them all to clean their areas and take their pots to the window bays.

After the imparted knowledge from their professor, a lot of the male students now held their pots a good distance from their faces. Scorpius didn't even touch his, let alone breath on the god forsaken thing. No, he levitated it over to the window bay, lest he be the unfortunate wizard-father of a Harpy Fern. The blonde didn't skimp on making disgusted faces at it the whole time either.

Once the other students had finished packing and filed out of the greenhouse, Scorpius moved back to his table and placed his books down neatly, setting his bag aside and waiting for the professor to return. James came up beside him, dumping his stuff on top of Scorpius' shooting the blonde a smug glare before plonking himself down in the chair with a huff and raking a hand through his messy ginger hair. Scorpius glared back at the slouching sixth year before turning back to the front of the room.

Professor Longbottom finished speaking to one of the other students outside and strode back into the room. He spied the two boys serving his detention sitting in rigid silence."Now then, James, Mister Malfoy. I take it this note passing game of yours has been going on for some time?" he set the two teens with a look of disapproval as they nodded. " Malfoy, I'm rather disappointed in you particularly. You're a very good student which is why you were placed in this year group's Herbology class. It's not like you to be so childish." he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What I don't understand is how you can get along perfectly fine with Albus and not James, is it that hard you two?"

James sat up straight and glared at the blonde. He replied tightly. "Yes, Professor it is." The professor shook his head at the two as Scorpius folded his hands tersely.

"Well if you can't sort this out now then I'll simply ask the both of you to try and refrain from this habit while in my class." the blonde nodded and James made some sort of not so classy grunt in agreement. The professor stepped closer to their desk and held out his hand. "Your wands please, I will return them after you've finished your detention." the two teens handed over the items in question without a fuss and listened carefully as the professor gave them instructions on cleaning the greenhouse without magic.

Once Professor Longbottom had left the room, James got up from his seat, tugging harshly on Scorpius' ponytail who hissed an '_Ow' _at him and walked over to grab the broom by the teacher's desk. The ginger sighed as he felt an icy glare on his back and stared at the floor.

"Get me in trouble like this again Malfoy and I'll make you go bald." he growled over his shoulder at the younger teen who was still sitting at the table.

"Make me bald, Potter and I'll hex your genitals off." Scorpius huffed. James muttered some generic insult at him as the blonde got up and moved to the other side of the class room to help with the clean up. He sighed quietly to himself.

It was going to be a long night.


	3. Snakes

**Diddle: Hey everyone, I'm so sorry for the extremely late update. Fanfiction was being a massive slut-toboggan and not letting me upload. I was also very busy through January, if you read my profile I had explained it in there.**

**I am pleased to inform you that I'm currently writing chapter four and should have both chapter four and five up by the end o the week. This chapter is very James heavy, and for that I'm sorry, but he is sort of integral to the plot. And like always, please read, enjoy and review.  
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><p>The two fourteen year olds toppled down onto the bed in fits of laughter. Albus was holding his sides, rolling around and Scorpius was fisting the sheets, hiding his face as he giggled almost uncontrollably. Albus sat up, wiping the tears from his eyes still grinning madly. The blonde next to him sighed and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.<p>

"I really wish you could've heard him, Scorp. It was hilarious." the black haired teen fell back on the soft mattress of his friend's bed with a snicker.

"From what you've told me so far, I imagine it was."

"It's just so good the way Finnigan has to act all proper. You sit down next to him and he's all _'Oh, top of the mornin' good chap_' with his stupid little tea cup." Albus mocked lightly, mimicking the actions of someone holding a tea cup and saucer in the air above him and Scorpius began laughing again, hitting his friend playfully on the arm.

"His accent is really bad too." the blonde giggled as his friend nodded in agreement.

"I love how he's always denying his Irishness by putting on that stupid British accent. _Oh yes, mother sends me the most delectable scones." _Albus grinned again when the blonde snorted at him.

"He does not say that." the blonde gave his friend a disbelieving look.

"He does talk like that, Scorp. Except, y'know, more posh." Albus shrugged, raising a questioning eyebrow at Scorpius as he started laughing at something again, covering his smile with his hand.

"Crumpet?" he turned to Albus, lifting out his flat palm with a goofy smile on his

face. The both of them burst into laughter again. Once their excitement had died down, they lay facing each other in silence. Albus' feet touched the stone floor, Scorpius' did not.

"Scorpius." Albus said tentatively, breaking the silence. The Slytherin looked up, eyes wide at the use of his full name for once. His friend gave him a small smile and his bright, green eyes softened.

"Yes?" Scorpius inclined his head, licking his lips nervously. The action caused some of his long blonde hair to fall over his face and his friend inched closer to him, lifting his hand to push it back. Al's cold thumb stayed there, mindlessly stroking Scorpius' hair.

"Lily told me about what happened with James yesterday. I just wanted to know if you were okay." the black haired teen asked slowly with a small smile, watching intently as the blonde lowered his grey gaze to the Ravenclaw tie that lay in the small space between them. He started to finger the edge of the fabric, curling it in and folding it.

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Al. I'm not upset." Scorpius sighed. The silence settled back over them, Scorpius seemed very amused by the Ravenclaw's tie as he continued to fold the triangular end in every way possible. Albus took the welcome distraction and let his eyes roam over the blonde next him. They flickered from Scorpius' lips, to his eyes and down to his slender fingers. His eyes roamed down his friend's gorgeous pointed features and to the pale expanse of his neck.

The thumb that was stroking Scorpius' cheek stopped.

Only having just noticed that Albus had stopped stroking his face, or really that he'd even been doing it in the first place, Scorpius looked up into the green eyes that were shining with something he couldn't quite place. The black haired teen swallowed and lightly traced his hand down his friend's jaw line, across his arm and to the blonde's own hand where he held it, untangling the small fingers from his tie. He leant in close as Scorpius watched him expectantly, but he stopped when they were about an inch apart and smiled.

"We should go..." Albus whispered, trailing off his sentence. _Merlin_, Scorpius was enchanting up close, every dark eyelash pronouncing the little, light blue flecks in his stormy grey eyes.

"Yes, we should." Scorpius whispered back.

"Why are you whispering?" Albus asked again, gripping his friend's hand more tightly.

"Because you are." Scorpius answered, smiling.

Albus started to move closer to his friend, his mind clouded and racing. '_If I were just a little closer, if I just lean down a little...I could.' _The two teens foreheads brushed against each other just as the blonde sat up. The black haired teen sighed, he wasn't sure if it was relief or disappointment, but was none the less thankful his friend had moved. Scorpius pulled Albus into a sitting position, albeit with a little difficulty, then got up off the bed.

He threw off his green and black school robe and headed over to the door. Albus got up and did the same with his own school robe, as Scorpius bent to pick up his books then stop with his hand poised on the door frame. The black haired teen stared at the slight curve of the boy's hips and the small sway of his lower back, the way his white-blonde pony tail rested between Scorpius' shoulder blades. The blonde had nice shoulders, they sat regally straight and were small. The blonde glanced over his shoulder, smirking.

"Are you coming?"

"Huh? Oh yeah." Albus replied dumbly taking two steps forward before Scorpius cut him off.

"Um, Al. You're books?" the blonde's smirk grew wider.

"Oh right." Albus flushed, leaning down to get his books from the foot of Scorpius' bed. His friend simply laughed at him and exited the room. Albus moved to follow Scorpius to the library, shaking his head with a single thought.

_'Tease'._

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><p>"Fuck everything." James grumbled at the large Transfiguration tome on his desk as it continued to eat the end of his quill. Next to him Fred Weasley let out an amused snort.<p>

"Jamie, mate, it's not that hard to transfigure a snake into a working water fountain."

"Hey! It's not me that's the problem. That _snake_ can resist magic or some shit, I swear." The snake in question let out a drawling hiss from its place on the desk, resting the dark green, scaly head in the coils of its body. James glared at it as his cousin laughed. James, quite frankly, didn't see what was so amusing.

"It's a wonder you're failing this class, why do you have a snake if you don't even like the bloody thing anyway?" The ginger asked his cousin calmly, slumping down into his seat and watching his toad-transfigured fountain with a grin. Next to him, the sixteen year old slumped down too, un-spelling his book and sighing.

"Grandmum got him for me as a birthday present. And you know what _she's_ like."

"All too well, mate. Have you named it?" Fred chuckled, jabbing at the fussy reptile with his wand. The snake simply gave him a look of utter disgust, which he didn't actually know was possible, and slithered itself around until it wasn't facing the two sixth years anymore.

James glared at it.

"No. I haven't. Maybe I should call him Bitch." James said passively, smirking at the scaly creature. His ginger cousin gave a loud snort of laughter and clapped him on the shoulder before returning to his toad, transfiguring it back and forth a few times as their Professor walked by.

The lesson continued in this typical fashion for next forty five minutes, James attempted to turn the snake into a fountain, but the bloody menace would just flick its tail and tongue and the magic would roll right off of it. After he got fed up with that, he started to mess around with the other student's work and Fred joined him shortly. It kept the two teens entertained until a rather loud hiss was emitted from James' snake and they were caught.

They mumbled their '_sorry professor' _as she took house points from Gryffindor.

After Fred got up to talk to their other friends, Damion Cormac and Lyle Rhodes, James went back to the snake who had, quite obviously, ratted him out. He wasn't really surprised to find that the stupid thing hadn't even tried to eat Fred's toad the whole time it had been left unattended. In fact the snake was rather prudish about it when the sixteen year old pushed the toad across the table with his wand towards the snake.

"C'mon, eat the nice fat, slimy toad you scaly little bitch." He muttered darkly at the reptile as he rested his head on his arms, which lay across the desk in a bored gesture. The ginger was waving the wand lazily to keep the spell going, but the snake was having none of it. It flicked out its tongue and then turned away from the wart infested amphibian as if it was too good to be seen, or even think about, eating a toad. The toad itself, clearly pleased it wasn't going to be eaten, happily let James use his magic to ram it head first into his pet's underbelly, where it bit at the large predator.

The snake wasn't going have any of this either.

Quite irritated at his owners antics the snake turned on him with an evil glare, quickly rearing up from its coils and hissing loudly. James about jumped a mile in the air when it bit down on the end of his wand with a loud snap and the toad was flung rather comically into the Professor's coffee mug at the front of the room. Graciously, his friends burst out laughing at the look of sheer shock on his face as he stood dumbly in front of the desk, his chair having clattered to the floor when he'd jumped up. James slumped his shoulders and twisted his face into a menacing glare, which he first directed at his friends then turned to the reptile, who honestly, looked rather smug.

He didn't know reptiles could look smug or even smirk for that matter, but _this one _managed it. James was quite content in believing that if his pet snake were a human, it would have a pointy face like a garden gnome, slender stormy grey eyes and an irritatingly long, white-blonde ponytail.

He scowled and glared at the animal harder.

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><p>James was making his way down to the Quidditch pitch from Gryffindor tower with his cousin and their two friends, Lyle and Damion, When a group of third year Hufflepuff girls poked him on the back to garner his attention, he turned with a slightly annoyed look, but masked it with a grin when he saw them flutter their eyelashes and blush at him from behind their bangs. One was a very noticeable individual, with her dead straight, black pig tails, slanted brown eyes, pert smile and chumpy cheeks.<p>

Xiu Chang-Sparrow. She was cute.

James glanced at his friends, Lyle, the daft prat, was grinning like a creep at the girls and Fred was putting on his best charm. Well, as much charm as a Weasley could muster. James decided to follow his cousin's example, at this point and directed a dashing smile down at the three thirteen year olds.

"Yes, girls?" The girls in question gave a few very high pitched giggles and shifted awkwardly on their feet. Sparrow fluttered her eyelashes again. The young Potter tried desperately not to grimace at them. The way they were behaving was irritating him. James may have dated just about every single female in school, but he had rules and thirteen was just too young.

"We just wanted to wish you good luck. In today's game. You're a _really good_ Seeker." Xiu flicked her pig tail over her shoulder, not really one for house pride apparently. James heard the other two mutter '_even better then your brother.' _This annoyed him too and he sent the girls on their way with a '_thank you, I do my best to impress' _and after they'd wiggled their hips off in some other direction, Fred burst into a fit of snorting cackles.

"Mate that was intense!" He clapped James on the shoulder who grinned devilishly at him in response.

"Not as intense as Lyle over 'ere. Stop thinking with your cock mate!" the sixteen year old jabbed his friend in the side with his elbow cackling like his cousin. And his other friends joined in on the banter mercilessly.

"Yeah, c'mon, they were thirteen." Damion piped in with a snicker.

"Haven't even hit puberty yet you fuckin' creep!" Fred stated as they clapped their friend on the back and he told them to sod off. James walked silent at the head of the pack as they continued down the stone hallways of Hogwarts, their brooms in hand and scowled at nothing in particular.

He didn't know what was bothering him so much, it must've been what the girls had said about his brother. Yes, James didn't deny that he was a good Seeker, but Albus was still only fourteen and he wasn't bad. He was very good at that, in fact, he had beaten James quite a few times. And despite everything, sibling rivalry included, James loved his little brother.

He was sure Albus would grow into his own eventually.

The group of Gryffindor Quidditch players rounded the next corner into the arch gapped walls of the hallway surrounding the grassy courtyard. The milling students parted a way for the group of four like Kneasles from a forest fire, the female students staring in admiration their boyfriends looking worried and some determined to end up just like James Potter. This hallway did nothing to improve the ginger's mood.

About half way down the corridor Scorpius Malfoy was holding his Slytherin robe and sporting his satchel over one shoulder as he gave directions to a rather flustered looking first year girl from the same house. After she hopped away from him, the blonde turned around to continue walking. He took a step, saw James and faltered stepping back again just as quickly. James looked around for his younger brother or Rose in the general vicinity, but didn't see them.

Scorpius Malfoy was alone.

James nudged his friends and then inclined his head towards the blonde, they smirked dropping their bags and brooms to floor and drawing their wands. James relished in the arrogant satisfaction that rushed through him when he saw the fourteen year old's body tense, his stance go rigid and his eyes search frantically for escape. The knuckles on the hand that was grasping is bag strap turned white. James started walking in long confident, determined strides towards the boy, smirking evily at the blonde as he drew up right before him. The ginger was a head and a bit taller than the young Slytherin.

"Malfoy." He greeted smugly. The boy glared at up at him.

"Potter, what do you want?"

"You're in my way, fag." James snarled at Scorpius' immediate refusal to walk away "Move."

"The last time I checked, you don't own the hallway. Besides you walked up to me, Potter." The blonde stated this with the utmost innocence and that irritated James.

He did have to give the boy credit though, he was quite obviously terrified, but still managed to aid the frightful adrenaline hit in James' being. But that was that and this was Malfoy. Annoying, scrawny, cock-sucking Malfoy. James gave an unamused snort of laughter as he turned away briefly from the blonde and on cue, like they knew exactly when James would snap, his friends used some random spells to throw Malfoy's possessions from his arms and to the dusty floor.

The sixteen year old grabbed the blonde roughly by his shoulder and his waist, his hand fitting almost all the way around the tiny boy and shoved him so violently against the wall it made a noise. He didn't miss the look of sheer terror on the blonde's face as he did it either and the sharp intake of breath when the boy hit the wall. Scorpius blinking rapidly as an attempt to not register the pain racking through him. It reminded James of the girls and their fluttering, but it was better, it didn't annoy him with Malfoy, it spurred him on.

Because he caused it. It was pain and hate. And _he _had gotten the reaction.

"You're a fucking worthless, piece of shit. _Shirt lifter._" He snarled into the blonde's ear as he moved his hand from the tiny waist to the boy's other shoulder and pulled him across the rough, stone wall. He hadn't missed the bleeding lip of Scorpius Malfoy where the boy had clearly bitten it to mask the pain. James heard the quiet drawn out '_ahhah' _of pain that the blonde emitted and immersed himself in pride from the savage glare of untimely death the blonde shot him as the boy collided painfully with the stone floor.

James grunted disapprovingly and glared down at the fourth year without the slightest hint of regret or sympathy for his actions. His friends trailed up to him snickering as they kicked Malfoy back down to the floor when he tried to get up. As the Gryffindor posse left the corridor across the courtyard, the students returned to their milling. A few even cheered '_Nice one Potter!' _after him, others just gave Scorpius sneers and looks that stated '_That's what you get'._

Slowly, Scorpius gathered his now dusty cloak and bag, as well as the few books that had tumbled out and got to his feet shakily. Wincing at the sting along his spine, he made his way through the corridor that would lead back to the halls of the castle which would bring him to the Slytherin common room. Away from the students laughing, away from James Potter.

Back to safety.


	4. Understanding

**Diddle: Hello everyone. I'm so sorry I took so long to update, I'm definitely going to try and be more frequent from now on. It should be a little easier to get this out because some ploty stuff happens in this chapter. I'm sorry about the Quidditch scene, it's terrible I know. I did try.**

**I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, seriously. You guys are so nice and I'm really happy you like this so much. One last thing is that my editor hasn't read this yet, so if there are any mistakes or typos please let me know.**

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><p>It was morally wrong how good Albus looked riding a broom. Scorpius had come to this decision a little ways into the practice match that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were having down on the pitch. They'd actually convened quite a large crowd of students who were all equally enthusiastic and interested in who would win the match. Some Hufflepuff boy, who Scorpius was fairly certain didn't actually go to Hogwarts (mostly because he'd never seen him before), had called out that if their team won he'd give the captain his sister. This made the group of friends that surrounded him whoop and cheer, and Scorpius had smiled a little at that one if he were honest. The official matches wouldn't be starting until the week after the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, but Albus was the one who'd asked the two teams if they were up for a game and then invited Scorpius down to watch.<p>

It wasn't working.

The blonde was having such a hard time focusing on what was actually going on in the match because his eyes were constantly drawn back to his best friend. His best friend who would pull random stunts like feinting out the other Seeker, or back flipping through the air just because he could. The snitch had been so elusive the entire game that, at one point, Albus and the opposing Seeker had just decided to weave around each other and race back and forth across the pitch. Much to the amusement of their team mates. And much to the jealousy of Scorpius.

Jealousy because he'd wanted to fly since the age of four and when he was finally allowed a practice broom three years later, he'd shown a natural skill for it and then fallen off. His father had caught him from the fall of course, but ever since he'd never been able to get a metre off the ground without freaking out. Of course he'd still tried out for the Quidditch team in first year to impress his father and he'd passed out from the shock. Scorpius remembered that Al had actually gotten detention for refusing to go to class while he was in the hospital wing.

A whirlwind of cheers broke over the small crowd of students as Ravenclaw scored again and the blonde broke out into a smile as he watched Albus swoop down to fly in celebratory formation with his team mates. It was then that the Hufflepuff Seeker, Warrick, gave away his move by making a loud, slightly strangled noise of realisation when he spotted the snitch and Scorpius' breath stopped as Albus clutched lower on his broom, practically pressing his body to the wood surface and sped from the formation of his team back towards the clouds. Hot on Warrick's tail, Albus' green eyes lit with competitive excitement like Scorpius' had never seen before.

The look had him going weak in the knees.

There was loud yell from the Gryffindor stands as Albus narrowly avoided a bludger and the blonde looked over to see a group of Gryffindors, all sporting some shocking ginger hair. Al's family and it had been James who screamed bloody murder at the Hufflepuff beater. The bludger incident had caused both Seekers to lose sight of the little golden ball flittering about the field, so Albus took back up into the sky, making sure he was high enough to scout the whole pitch. And there it was fluttering about between mid-field and the Slytherin stands a little higher than halfway to the tower tops. Albus knew exactly what he had to do.

Pulling his broom down a little lower, so that he was in Warrick's sight, he made sure that the Hufflepuff was looking at him before pretending to spot the little ball again and then lifted his hands from his Firebolt One-Eighty. The Ravenclaw made sure his thighs were gripping the broom as tightly as they could, moved his feet from the footholds and hooked his ankles around the tail end of the wooden handle. He heard the shuddering gasps of the spectators as he flipped himself and the broom upside down, loosening the grip of his legs just a little so that the broom began to fall. Albus let his arms spread wide, partly to create enough drag against the wind and partly so the opposing seeker would notice what he was doing. The black haired teen heard a loud profanity and with a glance saw the he was being chased.

Albus closed his eyes and counted slowly to three.

The Ravenclaw brought his arms back down to his broom and curled his fingers around the smooth handle, then he opened his eyes and flipped himself back the right way. Albus pushed his broom down into a dive, a lot faster than normal due to the velocity created from his fall and-knowing that he had a better model broom-when the Hufflepuff was closing in, he righted himself just inches above the ground and unhooked his ankles from the broom to kick out it's tail, making a smooth turn only barely avoiding the grass below. Al pulled back up into a speedy climb towards where the snitch was hovering, the wind rushing through his ears was blocking out the cheers from the blurry figures in the stands and Warrick struggled behind him to turn around-opting instead to dig his heels into the ground and bring his broom to a safe stop. And Albus eased himself to a stop as his fingers closed around the cool metal of the snitch.

Among the cheers and announcement of Ravenclaw's victory as Albus lowered himself to the ground, he locked eyes with Scorpius who gave a sheepish wave before moving to come join him on the pitch.

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><p>Albus trailed slightly behind his friend as they walked down to the lake. The autumn wind was chilly and Scorpius seemed to be struggling to walk through the sodden grounds in his heeled boots. Albus smiled, scuffing forwards a little faster so he could loop his arm through Scorpius' own, the blonde stumbled from surprise and stopped walking. The taller teen watched, amused, as Scorpius looked from their linked arms up to his friend and then back down again and then back up again. He opened his mouth as if to say something and Albus worried a bit that Scorpius might object to their current position, but the blonde simply closed his mouth again without a word his blush not going unnoticed.<p>

Albus grinned when they started walking again.

As they trod over the uneven grounds neither said anything, they seemed to be enjoying the comfortable silence. The distant shouts and laughs of other students far behind them and the rustling of the trees made it seem noisy enough without them needing to speak. Scorpius had his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his button up, fur trimmed, designer coat and chin nuzzled into his scarf while Albus' hand was enclosed awkwardly into a tight fist and the other held his broom over his shoulder. His Quidditch robes not having pockets was starting to irritate him. The black haired teen was so cold he thought his fingers were going to fall off and he grimaced at the thought.

"Why are you making that face? Do I smell bad or something?" Scorpius chuckled.

"Yes, you smell awful. I'd rather be sleeping in horse crap." Albus grinned, green eyes shining with amusement as he stuck his nose in the air importantly. This, of course, was possibly one of the biggest lies he'd ever told.

Scorpius smirked, jabbed his elbow into his friend's side and when Albus laughed through his 'ow' he quickly started to walk away.

"Oi, get back here you arse!" Hoisting his broom up on his shoulders more securely he took off after the now running blonde. Albus caught up to him at the lake shore, laughing and panting, the taller teen dropped his broom and threw his arms around the Slytherin's waist and whispered into his ear. "Caught you."

"You are so childish." Scorpius stated this in a slightly higher pitch than he normally would have and decided that his face wasn't burning furiously because of Albus, but simply because of the cold weather and the running.

"You started it." The Ravenclaw murmured, resting his chin against his friend's shoulder. Scorpius was so warm. A little _too_ warm actually. Albus pulled away from him and turned him around, a little roughly, by the hips. He surveyed his friend worriedly.

Scorpius quirked an eyebrow at him as Albus looked him over. His pale skin was flushed bright red, his breath coming out in short little puffs-still having not recovered from their running a few minutes ago- and his wispy, blonde hair fell delicately down his shoulders. He didn't look sick. Albus thought slightly relieved, pretty but not sick. Although he still could be sick. Albus' gaze drifted over to some blank stare past Scorpius' shoulder. Just because he didn't look sick, doesn't mean that he wasn't sick. And then he began to worry, biting his lip distractedly as his grip tightened on the other teen's hips.

Because if Scorpius really was sick it would have been his fault for asking him to come down to watch the game of Quidditch in the horrible weather. Then Scorpius' father might find out and Albus would get a howler from him while trying to eat in the Great Hall, and Scorpius' _mother_ would find out and he would also get a howler from her (which would be infinitely worse because it she would just be screaming profanities at him in French, because that's just what Scorpius' mother did) and then she'd tell his own father that she thought that he, Albus, was a bad influence on her son- which, if Albus were to be honest with himself, he probably was- then take Scorpius away to Beauxbatons.

Albus hissed under his breath. This was just perfect, now _he_ felt sick.

"Albus!" the blonde was all but yelling at him, clicking his fingers in front Albus' face to try and get his attention.

"W-what...?" He couldn't keep the paranoid tone out of his voice and Scorpius gave him a reproachful look.

"Nothing... Just, are you okay? You've gone a bit pale."

"I'm fine." Just as he'd said this however, he felt a sneeze coming on. He turned away from the blonde, flipped his blue sleeve inside out and sneezed loudly into it. The water birds that had been sitting placidly on the lake cawed and flew off at the sound.

Scorpius burst into a fit of laughter.

"Come here, silly." the Slytherin pulled his lilac scarf from his shoulders and began wrapping around Albus when he stepped forward. "If you were cold, you should have said something." Scorpius black gloved hands stopped, placed gently against the taller boy's collar bone. He wouldn't admit it aloud if he were asked, but Albus thought the scarf smelled wonderful.

They were so close that the little white puffs of air their breath made mingled in the small space between them. Smiling, Albus dipped a little so his forehead pressed lightly against Scorpius' and drew his own fingerless-gloved hands up to each side of the blonde's neck. The shorter teen shifted closer so that their bodies were pressed gingerly together and lifted his gaze to the Ravenclaw's.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you..." Albus muttered quietly into the space between them. He felt Scorpius' hand tighten into the fabric of his robes a little as he hummed an 'mmm?' in response. "I need you..." Albus' whisper trailed off, the two of them were so close now, both of them had closed their eyes and the black haired teen felt every little shake in Scorpius' body as his friend let out a shuddering breath and shivered against him.

"I need you to..." but Albus never got to tell Scorpius exactly what it was that he needed him to do, because there was a loud shout behind them of 'Hey Al! Malfoy!' and the blonde was practically leaping away from him and stepping around Albus to greet Lily and Hugo.

Albus mouthed a forceful 'dammit', clenching his fist before moving to join Scorpius and grin brightly at his sister and cousin. Lily bent to pick up his broom as the two of them approached.

Albus was astonished he'd forgotten about it.

* * *

><p>Lily arched a bright red eyebrow at her oldest brother as he continued to make ridiculous noises at the fluffy, white ragdoll cat in his lap. The cat didn't seem to mind very much, it purred and head-butted James affectionately every time he scratched it's chin or nuzzled inbetween it's shoulder blades. Lily gave an amused snort at the several girls who kept giving him dreamy glances every now and again, they were trying to look like they weren't interested in James Potter's love of all things tiny and cute and failing miserably. Smirking she turned back to the chess board.<p>

"He really likes that cat, huh?" Hugo questioned from the other end of the board, which lay between the two twelve year olds on the small, round wooden table in the Gryffindor common room.

"I don't think the cat minds, to be honest. He lets it sleep on his bed sometimes too." Lily grinned down at the chess board as one of her cousin's pawns violently decapitated her own, screwing up her nose to keep her glasses on her face properly. The thick, square-ish black frames were always sitting askew one way or another, being slightly too big for her.

"Does anyone even know who it belongs to?" Hugo questioned as Lily's knight's horse had it's legs cut off and her brother continued to stroke the purring cat over by the lounges asking it 'who's a handsome kitty boy' in a stupid voice.

"I don't think so. Hold on." And she turned with a mocking smile in the direction of her brother, yelling across the room "Oi James! Who's cat is that!"

"I have no idea! I just see him wondering about the castle a lot!" James grinned brightly at her as she shook her head. "I think he likes me." Lily thought he sounded a little too happy about that.

Hugo shrugged with an amused smile when she turned back to their game of chess. She always lost against him. Always. But she really only played because she took great pleasure in the way the chess pieces brutally murdered one another. Hugo was in Ravenclaw and came up to the Gryffindor Tower with Rose so that they could all go to dinner together, since most of their family was in Gryffindor. She had been disappointed that Albus didn't come up with them, but Rose had told her something along the lines of Al spluttering about 'I can't just leave Scorp by himself.' and that, apparently, had been the end of it.

"Oh, it's almost time. Should we finish this game Lils?" her ginger cousin asked clucking his tongue as his rook was taken out. "I hope Al changes his mind."

"Yeah, oh speaking of Al!" and she turned back to James once revenge for white had been exacted up her pawn "James! Quit making out with the cat for a minute!"

"Ugh, what Lils?" He looked up reluctantly at his sister's sly smile.

"Guess who we saw down by the lake this morning!"

"Who?" James gave her a disapproving look.

"You're gonna go bat-shit when you hear this." she felt Hugo kick her impatiently under the table and hiss her name in warning, but she ignored him and made some off handed gesture that it would be fine.

"Oh, just spit it out! And don't fucking swear." James said sternly leaning forwards on the couch more.

"Al and Malfoy." she said innocently. A small nerve seemed to have snapped in her brother and he glared forcefully at the wall. "They were like, less than a centimetre apart." she used her finger and thumb to emphasise her point.

"Tch, figures. I knew that freaky, little poufter was bad news. I just hope Al's smart enough not to catch fag." James spat distractedly.

Lily smiled as some of the girls that had been fawning over him minutes ago gave him dirty looks, some of the boys around the room did too. Apart from Damion, who nodded his agreement, where as Fred rolled his eyes in an exasperated way and Lyle bit his lip, looking indifferent. Rose stepped forward from their cousins Molly and Roxxane and pressed her hands together.

"Why don't we go to dinner then?" and she proceeded to herd the bunch of Weasley's out of the common room, the cat leapt off of James' lap and darted off ahead of them all. Once the rest were outside, Rose turned back to Hugo and Lily "Are you to coming?"

"Yeah, we're just going to finish this game, Sis and we'll be right along." Hugo dismissed her politely and Rose gave a small smile before flouncing off after the others.

"Even though you're going to win and you know it." Lily jeered at her cousin playfully, the common room had emptied considerably, a lot of the other students having followed Rose's lead.

"I always win, Lils. More to the point, why did you tell him that?" the ginger boy shot her an angry glare, but his cousin simply smiled, brown eyes twinkling.

"I was instigating." she folded her arms and watched in delight as her black queen smashed a white knight to pieces.

"You shouldn't have told him that, you know what will happen." Hugo said in an inevitable tone. Because the same thing always happened, much like he always beat Lily at Wizard's Chess.

"I know, James will be an arse to Malfoy and then Al will punch James in the face. I swear it gets funnier every time." she glanced dreamily at the window for a second, wild ginger hair flicking about her shoulders.

"You're the one Al should be punching." Hugo snorted and took Lily's queen.

"Maybe, but I think there's a little more to all of this than Jamie's letting on, Huey." Lily told her cousin calmly as her second knight brutally wrecked a bishop.

"What do you mean? And please don't use that name, you remind of Grandma." his eyebrows knitted together in puzzlement.

"Well, take cousin Arthur for example." she leaned forward, folded arms resting on the table importantly. "He's gay, yeah?"

"He's _bi_, Lils."

"Whatever, when you're a man and you sleep with another man, at that point in time you _are_ gay for that man. Same thing with women." she interrupted sharply.

"Yeah, and?" though her cousin did admit that she had a good point.

"Well, remember when we were eight and James thought that Arthur was like 'Merlin's gift to man'" she air quoted. "Even though he kind of _is_-"

"Lily! He's your cousin!" Hugo interrupted indignantly.

"Who cares? He's hot." she rolled her eyes and Hugo just folded his arms, slumping back into the chair. "Anyway my point is, James didn't have any problems with people being gay until he met Scorpius Malfoy" she finished proudly sticking her nose in the air.

Hugo gave her a calculating look.

"Checkmate."

"Well, bugger." Lily said and smirked, she pushed her glasses up her nose and got up and Hugo followed suit. The two twelve year olds headed down to dinner with Lily wondering how much easier her life would have been if her brothers weren't so stupid.


End file.
